Terry rescues England against Ukraine
Terry rescued England after Shevchenko's equaliser
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Wednesday, 01, Apr 2009 11:19
A goal from captain John Terry five minutes from time helped England beat Ukraine 2-1 in their World Cup qualifier.
Peter Crouch had put England ahead midway through the first half but some poor defending 15 minutes from time allowed former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko to equalise.
The home side looked like having their lead at the top of Group Six cut by Croatia and Ukraine before Terry prodded home David Beckham's free-kick.
England started slowly at Wembley with Ukraine getting men behind the ball happy to restrict the hosts.
Fabio Capello's side needed to inject some pace into their attacking play but could not manage to impose themselves on Ukraine until well into the first half.
Steven Gerrard tried a shot from distance which went narrowly wide before Wayne Rooney and Aaron Lennon combined to set up Frank Lampard, but he too dragged his shot wide of the target.
England took the lead after 30 minutes and it took a set piece to finally break down the well organised Ukraine defence.
Terry flicked on a corner at the front post and the ball fell into the path of Crouch who was able to volley home unmarked from five yards out.
That goal seemed to give England a lift, with Rooney and Lennon looking like their best chance of adding to their lead.
Rooney found the Tottenham Hotspur winger on the right flank, he danced past the full-back and squared the ball to the on-rushing Manchester United striker but his shot went just wide of the mark.
Ukraine almost got back on level terms just before the break when Anatoliy Tymoschuk took a speculative shot from distance.
The ball seemed to move in the air but David James managed to get enough behind it to scramble the shot around the post.
Shevchenko replaced Andriy Voronin at half-time for Ukraine and after another slow start to the half from both sides Lennon gave way to Beckham for England.
The AC Milan midfielder went close with a free-kick but it was his colleague at the Italian club, Shevchenko, who was first to put his mark on the match.
A free-kick into the England box was not dealt with and after it had ricocheted off Glenn Johnson it fell to Shevchenko and he hammered the ball past James.
England were left ruing the absence of Lennon as the lack of pace in the side looked like it might cost them.
Shaun Wright-Phillips was brought on for Peter Crouch to help address the situation but it was Beckham who provided the solution.
He gained a free-kick on the right flank and drifted in a cross which Gerrard headed into the danger zone for Terry to volley home from point blank range.
England remain five points clear at the top of Group Six after Croatia beat Andorra 2-0.